


(as the moon fades) one more night gone.

by redhoods



Series: sometimes i wonder how. [1]
Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-04
Updated: 2012-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-30 13:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/332499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhoods/pseuds/redhoods
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeremy doesn’t normally feel lonely, out here with Tyler, but Christmas always seems to be the hardest for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(as the moon fades) one more night gone.

It’s been years since the cold has so much as perturbed Jeremy, but he still makes a show like it’s actually cold to him outside, mostly for his own sake. It helps him feel a little more normal, a little more human, a little more like he’s not almost completely isolated. He suppose the only thing that keeps him from being isolated is the werewolf - no, hybrid - he can hear moving about in the house behind him.

He pulls the blanket closer around himself, fingers wrapped loosely around the mug of hot chocolate Tyler had pressed into his hand as he had walked out of the house. The top of the drink is already frozen, but Jeremy doesn’t pay it any mind as he stares out over the front yard.

The wood porch is unyielding under him, but Jeremy notices that about as much as he notices the cold. The snow is thicker this year than it was last year, the path just barely visible from where Tyler had cleared it the previous day. Any footprints that might have been there from visitors are long gone.

Christmas is the only time of year they really get visitors anymore. Maybe because no one wants to be alone. Damon comes and is gone just as quick. Caroline drifts in, stays a few days, then disappears. Rebecca stops by, leaves a suitcase of bloodbags by the door before she leaves. Elena sends a card that has a small sticky hand print on the envelope. 

Jeremy doesn’t normally feel lonely, out here with Tyler, but Christmas always seems to be the hardest for them. Jeremy is swamped by happy memories of times when his family was whole, not fragmented, before their world was tipped and turned and flipped by vampires and werewolves and death. Tyler deals with bad memories of times when his father was alive, when his mother was merely a house wife, and then of his father’s death, his mother’s death.

It’s hard on both of them.

He’s shaken out of his thoughts when the front door slides open, barely making a sound except for the buffers at the bottom sliding across the tile floor of the entrance way. “Want company?”

Jeremy shrugs his shoulders and pats the spot next to him loosely, setting his forgotten cup to the side. He lets out a soft huff though, when to hands slide under his arm pits to drag him up to his feet, “We have a swing for a reason, Jere,” Tyler mutters, playful, trying to lighten the mood. Jeremy lets himself be manhandled over to the large porch swing they put in a few years back. It had been the best idea either of them had, only rivaled by the hammock they have for the summer time.

They scuffle around, trying to get comfortable, Tyler snapping his jaw like a playful puppy, who in the end gets his way. They end up sideways on the swing, Jeremy settled between Tyler’s legs, his back to the hybrid’s chest. Tyler radiates body heat so Jeremy ends up tossing the blanket to rest across the back of the swing before tilting his head back against Tyler’s shoulder, making a tangled mess of their fingers over his abdomen.

It’s a while before either of them even moves, able to sit still for longer than they ever were as humans. Tyler breaks the complete silence of the entire property with a sneeze that nearly tips them off the swing. It sets them both into peels of laughter before the settle once more. Jeremy finds himself relaxing even more into Tyler’s chest, feeling everything loosen up in Tyler’s presence, like an adverse affect of what it used to be when they were teenagers. Well, they’ll forever be teenagers, Jeremy figures, but if they go by years, Tyler’s thirty and Jeremy’s verging on twenty-nine.

Tyler breaks the calm once more, mouthing his way across Jeremy’s neck, his mouth a striking contrast to the cool air around them. The reaction to shudder when Tyler pulls away, the cool air rushing against the saliva, is instinct. Jeremy huffs softly, turning his head to nip at Tyler’s jaw, fangs making a brief appearance before he settles back once more. 

Tyler can’t let it be though, can’t let Jeremy have the last move, so he clamps down on the juncture of Jeremy’s neck and shoulder, before he lavs at it. Jeremy needs at least three more arms to count how many times Tyler has done that. The first time is the strongest in his mind though, remembering what the significance of that particular bite was, remembering Klaus’s reaction to seeing it happen right in front of his eyes. Jeremy recalls feeling lightheaded after it happened, fingers twisted in the fabric of Tyler’s shirt, recalls feeling the gasp reverberate through Tyler’s chest when he realized what had happened, recalls Klaus’s shouting in the background.

“Jeremy!” 

Jeremy blinks a few times, twisting his head to look at Tyler, eyebrow lifted, “What?”

Tyler grins, nudges at his chin with his nose, “You were off in la la land,” he mutters teasingly, scraping his teeth lightly over Jeremy’s pulse point.

“Sorry, was thinking,” Jeremy finds himself answering automatically, head tilting of its own accord.

There’s a soft hum against his neck, “About?”

He shrugs, squeezing his fingers around Tyler’s. “The past, I guess,” he murmurs, feels Tyler’s gaze on the side of his head. “About the first time you bit me,” he adds for clarification, feels Tyler relax again.

Tyler is solid behind him, contentment rolling off him in waves as he nuzzles lightly along Jeremy’s neck, “Best thing that’s ever happened to me,” and Jeremy wills himself not to blush. “I wish I could share my feelings about that night with you, like some Vulcan mind meld -” he snorts - Tyler is still so hard on himself and Jeremy isn’t sure how many years it’s going to take him to get Tyler to realize how amazing he is - “It just felt so right.”

Jeremy heard Tyler say that before, several times actually, but it still feels good to hear it once more. He turns his head, presses his lip to the side of Tyler’s throat, letting his head stay turned in that direction as he relaxes against Tyler once more. Jeremy listens to Tyler’s heart thud, listens to the blood as it pushes through his veins, mostly for a lack of anything else to listen to.

They settle once more.

Tyler interrupts it again, sitting up and almost dumping Jeremy on the porch. “My legs are falling asleep,” he murmurs softly near Jeremy’s ear. Jeremy nods and pushes himself off the swing, turning some to watch Tyler. He lets himself be turned towards the house, feels Tyler press against his back, walking him in the direction of the front door. “So it’s still a few days til Christmas, but I can’t keep it in any longer.”

Jeremy knows better than to argue with Tyler about it, because last year he had bucked their no present rule himself. He lets himself be herded onto the couch, thinking about how much more willing he is to let Tyler move him around and usher him places than he ever thought he would be. His thoughts get derailed as he listens to Tyler crash around upstairs, shaking his head a little as he slumps into their overly cushy couch.

If it weren’t for Tyler, Jeremy’s certain the house would always be deadly quiet - pun not intended. Jeremy’s also certain that Tyler makes all the noise he does to over compensate for the quiet, like when he comes thudding down the stairs. He listens to Tyler take a detour and automatically knows Tyler is going for the stereo which he has rigged to play through the whole house. Some days Jeremy wants to throw the damn thing out into the lake and some days he’s glad it’s there. Christmas songs start playing and confirm Jeremy’s suspicions. Sometimes, though, he wonders if Tyler makes the noise because he didn’t have the option to make this sort of noise in his house growing up.

“Sorry, the quiet was getting to me,” Tyler states softly as he walks back into the room and settles next to Jeremy, playing a decent sized wrapped rectangle in Jeremy’s lap. The second he wraps his fingers around the edges to get ready to open it, he knows it’s a picture frame. He glances over to Tyler before back to the frame, pressing his finger into the front by the edge of the frame and drags it down, listening to the tearing sound it makes as he goes from the top right corner to the bottom right corner. 

He can feel Tyler’s impatience and deliberately takes his time peeling the paper away, turning the front of the frame away from him so he can prolong it. Jeremy chuckles, hearing Tyler huff as he pushes all the wrapping paper to the floor before flipping it over to look. A gasp leaves him unchecked and he finds himself tracing over the glass, leaving smudged fingerprints in his wake.

Tyler is vibrating with nervous energy so Jeremy spares him a glance. “Do you like it?”

Jeremy grins and nods, leaning into to press his lips to the corner of Tyler’s, “I love it, Ty,” he responds, feeling the tension drain out of Tyler. He looks back to the picture - no, drawing. It’s of all of them together, smiling, like they’re all posing for a picture. Jeremy, Tyler, Elena, Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Bonnie, Alaric, all of them. Even Rebecca, Anna, Jenna, and Klaus. They look like a school group or work team, all of them mismatched, but they make some sort of dysfunctional family.

Jeremy can’t stop himself from pressing his lips to Tyler’s once more, pulling back slowly. “Where are we gonna put it?”

He smiles, watching as Tyler grows unsure once more, “Well, we don’t really need that bird picture above the mantel, do we?”

Jeremy laughs softly and shakes his head, handing the frame to Tyler. He watches Tyler stand, carrying the picture so carefully. He stands and follows him over to the mantel, removing the picture they had put up there just to spare themselves a bare wall, setting it on the floor. Stepping behind Tyler, Jeremy wraps himself around Tyler from behind, resting his chin on Tyler’s shoulder and peering up at the picture. “It looks great, Ty.”

Tyler leans back into Jeremy, peering up at his handiwork, humming lightly in agreement, “It does.”

Grinning, Jeremy nuzzles his face into Tyler’s neck, pressing his lips on the skin, “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Jere,” Tyler murmurs, twisting in Jeremy’s grip to press his lips to the vampire’s, hands settling over Jeremy’s hips and pushing him backwards until they hit a wall. They scuffle, like they had on the swing, snapping playfully at each other, pushing and pulling and pinching until they end up sprawled on the couch, Jeremy straddling Tyler’s abdomen, his hands trying to maintain their grip on Tyler’s wrists above his head.

Tyler smirks wickedly, “Do I get a present now?” He asks cheekily, bucking up towards Jeremy, being careful not to dislodge Jeremy from his position though.

Jeremy hums, leaning down to bite at Tyler’s neck, releasing his wrists to grip the end of Tyler’s shirt, “Maybe,” he murmurs, before he tugs down instead of up and scrambles off Tyler and over the back of the couch, dashing through the house with a laugh, listening to Tyler growl behind him before the hybrid is hot on his tail, muttering about ungrateful, teasing mates.


End file.
